Arlo Essentials Not Recording to Local Storage

[BrianonArlo]

This follows a previous post which was NOT solved:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Essential-Wire-Free-Cameras/Arlo-Essential-wont-record-to-base-st...

I have the same issue and there was no solution. It looks like "Master" was not understanding "Aspirant", but I understand as I have the same problem. Master kept saying this was a cloud issue and that Aspirant's recordings were going to their cloud, but they were not. 

The issue is the same where I bought the Arlo Pro's a long time ago and been working fine recording to local storage with a hard drive connected to the USB on the base station. My Arlo Pro batteries were getting old, so I bought the new Arlo Essentials and set them up to record the same as the Arlo Pro's (local storage) and everything was working fine, but now my Arlo Essentials won't record to the local storage but they are triggering events. There is something about the Arlo Essentials that won't let you record to local storage after a certain time period - a month? I think mine was about a month or two. I have tried removing them and then adding them again, but not working. Is there a new solution for this problem?

[StephenB]

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@BrianonArlo wrote:

I have the same issue and there was no solution. It looks like "Master" was not understanding "Aspirant", but I understand as I have the same problem. Master kept saying this was a cloud issue and that Aspirant's recordings were going to their cloud, but they were not. 

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Let's start here. 

Please let us know what base model you have.  There is a VMBxxxx label on the base somewhere.

If you have a VMB4000, or VMB4500 base, then all recordings you see in the app or on my.arlo.com are coming from the Arlo cloud, and not the USB drive.  The ONLY way to see local recordings on the USB drive with these bases is to eject the storage, connect the storage to a PC, and browse for the recordings.

The legacy cameras (including your old Pros) were sold with 7 day cloud storage, so you do get cloud recordings without a subscription for those cameras.  Current cameras (including the Essentials) are not sold with that feature, so you will stop seeing recordings in the app when the trial subscription ends. 

The net here is that @dcfox1's response on the thread that you linked in was completely correct. It is easy to confirm that the Pro recordings are in the cloud. Just eject the storage (done from the app or my.arlo.com), and remove the drive.  Then make a manual recording from one of the Pro cameras while livestreaming, and confirm that it shows up in your library.  While you are at it, connect the storage to a PC and see if any essential recordings are on it.

[BrianonArlo]

OK, thank you.

Well then, unless you have a solution with my base station I just made big purchase mistake based off the Arlo info I understood. I should have just bought some additional Pro cameras, but I saw those Essentials were compatible with all base stations and figured they were newer & had better battery life. 

I bought the Arlo Pro - Wireless Home Security Camera Starter System from Amazon (link below) back in 2018. Assume this is the original base station (VMB4000 or whatever the original was).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FLRWW5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't use or have the need for alarm triggering or a security service and so just needed the recordings to detect and have evidence for any recent theft or unusual activity (I just check recordings for any "after hours" activity). So, don't need any expensive subscription plans. 

[StephenB]

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@BrianonArlo wrote:

Well then, unless you have a solution with my base station

There are two options with your base station.

One is to bite the bullet and get a subscription.

The other is to access your local recordings on a PC when you suspect theft or see unusual notifications.